Iikubo Haruna announced that she will be graduating from Morning Musume ’18 and Hello! Project at the end of the year.

This announcement made on the Hello! Project, Iikubo Haruna mentioned that, during the idol group’s 20th anniversary celebration, she began to think more about her future. In order to achieve her goals and surpass herself, she decided to leave Morning Musume ’18 and Hello! Project but expressed interest in staying in the entertainment industry while performing solo arts-related activities.

No formal reason was given, but after celebrating the idol group’s 11th anniversary this year, it seems that the girls want to move on and continue their activities in other domains. There were several discussions between the girls and their staff about the future of Vanilla Beans.